Reviews for Ghost Slayers Ayashi

Ayakashi Ayashi is set in the Tenpou era in Edo, Japan. The events in the story occur before the arrival of Commodore Perry. The leads of the show are a band of warriors known as Ayashi, who are commissioned to fight beasts from the other world, known as Youi. Story The series starts out a little episodic (monster of the week, if you will). However, it comes off very well in blending fantasy into real history. The plot starts to pick up near the middle, but feels a little rushed near the end due to the fact that the series was originally planned for a 50episode run. Being cut in half due to the unsatisfactory ratings required of a "primetime" show really hurt this area. It still is pretty enjoyable, though I felt it would have been much better given a few more episodes.

If you are interested in Japanese calligraphy/word study, this series will appeal even more to you. Ryuudou can draw "Ayagami" from people and youi, which are basically their names and depending on their meanings (current, and original meaning of the word), he is able to magically create weapons, armor and whatnot.

Art

The art style used is very aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and remains constant throughout the series. The action scenes are animated very well and the style blends really well with the mood of the series. It also gives off a very 'classy' Japanese feel. Very beautiful and one of my favorite parts of this show.

Sound

Personally, I found the OPs and EDs to be great. The ED animation might not be very flashy, but it fits well with the songs and the show in general. The OPs are quite fast paced and are animated quite well.

The soundtrack fits the show to a "T", and although not one of the best, still really helped enhance the mood of many scenes.

Character

Characters are generally likable and have quite a few focal episodes where they are well developed, including their pasts etc. Voice acting is also superb for most roles. I liked how the main character was a middle-aged man and not a young child like most shows in this slot (Gundam SEED, Blood+, Eureka Seven). However, the lack of a main where kids can relate too probably helped contribute to the lack of popularity for the show.

Overall

I found myself enjoying this show quite a bit. If you enjoy a little history or Japanese mixed into your anime, then you might wanna check this one out. But if the premise of the shows doesn't interest you, then you might want to save your time and watch something else.

I still feel it was a waste that it had to be cut though. Could've done much better with twice the showtime. Off to watch the OVAs now.

Basically what sticks out about this show is that the art direction has a somewhat retro (not dated) feel. Nice Monster design in most episodes and short story arches so you dont feel like your just waiting for the action sequences. Also if you have studied any Kanji/Chinese then you'll like the main character's power of bringing out the monsters "Character" then turning it into a weapon. Overall an enjoyable ride.

Anybody remember the name of Sho Aikawa? Well, people who follow anime and especially manga knows him from doing scripts for Fullmetal Alchemist, Martian Successor Nadesico, Gad Guard & Violence Jack to name a few but with this wholly original idea from him, it actually has a peak of interest in one anime connoisseur to another but once going in, should we be quick to call this a classic in the making? Anyway, in the 14th year of the Tenpo era, there was a secret shrine for “Bansha Aratamesho” (a research institution for foreign literature and learners) under the city of Edo. To the public,this organization was punishing the scholars who studied the Western Culture. However, this organization's true mission was far more significant. Bansha Aratamesho was responsible to slay the “Yoh-is”, the evil spirits with flesh and blood from another world, that were expanding into Edo. Bansha Aratamesho is not an official organization. Members do not have the typical credentials to be the vassal of Shogun. It consists of a man who lost his memory, a man who was raised in a mountain and a girl who dresses up in a man’s outfit. Their special powers are yet to be known, but they all have special abilities that help slay the Yoh-is. The code name given to them is – “Ayashi”. Ayashis collect all types of information that seems bizarre. With thorough investigation, they locate the Yoh-is and hunt them down.

Now this is where I got to share my problems with the series…..and the main problem is either the pacing issues in the plot, as in it is very slow and it will feel like you’ve been watching the show for half a day. The series does highlight Japanese calligraphy and word study if you interested in learning the language itself and some historic facts often show up in the show, much like Hetalia does sometimes and while it is informative and I will give them merit for that, this series sells itself as an action series and yet the action isn’t up to par to being exciting, it’s just there and it does the pattern of an “monster of the week” plot and for the main storyline does suffers of you trying to keep up and not drift asleep to it. I can see why the series was originally supposed to be 50 episodes, but due to low ratings in Japan, they decided to can the series with only 25 episodes and 5 OVA episodes entitled “Ghost Slayers Ayashi: Inferno”, which I don’t think concluded the series to a satisfying finish.

The characters are honestly very unenthusiastic and dull, and you couldn’t care less about what happens to them. You got Yukiatsu Rydou, the main character who’s a vagrant and has the power of the Ayagami and he was a relatively okay character but I was never completely invested in any of the characters, not even the cross-dressing member of the group Genbatsu Edo or Saizo, the female warrior of the group who dresses like a man and possibly Atl and she is summed up to be the damsel in the group. The other characters are too forgetful or unimportant to mention.

The animation and production values from BONES are remarkably well. Even though I thought the action scenes just felt like it’s just there so you’ll be awake, it was well-animated and the art style of the characters, minus the Yoh-is (they were more “meh” rather than threatening), was acceptable and feel smooth overall. The music of the series was the standard feudal-Japan era BGM and it was done fine but the opening and ending songs are just generic J-Pop tracks that I’ve heard too much in anime and I would just skip them every time I watched an episode, to be honest.

And then there’s the dub by Bandai/Bang Zoom and like the series, it was lacking in the writing department but the dub isn’t bad, it’s just dull and yet the dub has some of my favorite LA-based anime voice actors (Steve Blum, Crispin Freeman & Stephanie Sheh) and even they can’t save this show and that’s the hard thing about it. Maybe Crispin Freeman voicing a cross-dresser help a little bit but the script was written to be straight-laced, no intentionally funny wits and not bullshitting around; and I thought that the script should’ve used a little bit more humor to even it out.

FINAL VERDICT: I’m going to be straightforward about this show…..AND THE FACT THAT IT IS BORING!!! It’s one of the shows that had some potential but it kept on stubbing some toes along the way. I’m very sad and disappointed for this and I wouldn’t recommend this show to action/samurai fans but I’m not going to fully discredit this series and if you like some of the history facts about feudal Japan and calligraphy, then it’s your cup of tea.

Overall Rating 4/5 Definitely a show worth watching and owning. Set in Feudal Japan the lead character, Yukiatsu Ryuudou, eventually joins a secret sub-government agency to fight with the power of Ayagami (to form weapons from true names). Yukiatsu, age 39, is overall joined to a group of other oddly talented adults and a couple of teenagers. So if you want to watch a show that isn't about another Japanese high school, this is a good show to get started on. The group fights Youi (aka Ayakashi, Yokai, supernatural creatures from folklore). The group travels around protecting towns and whatnot while the main plotrevolves around government change and the agency's ongoing usefulness.

Theme Songs 4/5

Two opening and two ending themes are all solid and interesting. All fairly fast paced and good, I never skipped them.

Ending 4/5 (conditional)

The TV ending finished the plot well enough.

The OVA has a more complete ending but a less happy ending, thus 3/5.

All in all I think this is a very mediocre show. It is a classic man has tragic backstory that links him to a group to fight monsters. The show is very episodic. However, the show has one redeeming factor, which is the Other Side. This show is on my favorites list because I too am captivated by the Other Side, the mystical place where the monsters come from that is so beautiful that is makes the rest of the world tasteless, so bright that the characters that visit literally become addicted. I would recommend watching the first episode sole for the introduction of theOther Side which really hooked me but unfortunately does not play enough of a role in the rest of the series to have kept me watching.

This is a classic Samurai anime that takes place in 1843 during the Tokugawa Shogunate, and more specifically the Edo period, and even more specifically the Tenpou Era, only a little over 20 years before Commodore Perry came to Japan's shores to open up their boarders. These were turbulent times in Japanese history and this anime showcases that quite well. he leads of the show are a band of warriors known as Ayashi, who are commissioned to fight beasts from the other world, known as Youi. The series starts out a bit slow, and also episodic. Not bad necessarily, but witha very clear formula, the characters fight and defeat a monster of the week. However as the series progresses it does develop an overarching storyline. In general I like anime with a Feudal Japanese aesthetic and swordsmen which was able to pull me through until the plot and characters got fleshed out more. The main character is Yukiatsu Ryudou, who is a Vagrant, which it seems like just means he wanders around seemingly aimlessly and has no master. When he was a child he was "spirited away" to another world. It seems like the main allegory this other world is supposed to allude to is the afterlife, being deceased, however I also have a lowkey theory that it might also be a subtle reference to foreign lands, as in episode 12 one of the characters did somewhat equate the two, but I'm not sure if this is intentional or not. Still, it's pretty interesting if it is. After he got back from that other world he's been chasing it ever since, which is why he keeps traveling constantly.

He's an interesting character, as are most of the others, particularly the ones that surrounds him all the time. I can't say most of them are incredibly complex, Yukiatsu is the closest. He's incredibly relatable, minus the being spirited away aspect obviously. He's a man stuck in a cycle in life and chasing after a past which he can never, or should never, regain. He has to learn to live in the present, and in this world. None of the other characters connected to me as much as him, but that doesn't mean they were bad characters. They work for what they are, are fun, and compliment the main character and the themes extremely well. They often provide comedy while also being crucial to Yukiatsu's development. This is the type of anime that you don't necessarily watch in the hopes that every single character will be incredibly deep and interesting. You follow the MC and the themes and see how the supporting characters...well, support them. Oh, and hte world too, which I did enjoy for its dark, gritty, and bleak look and atmosphere. It's not one of my favorite anime in this realm, but I did enjoy it for the most part.